Pepe hoping for luck to favour Madrid against Dortmund

By Shane Callaghan

The 29-year-old was apart of the Blancos side who were eliminatedby Bayern Munich last season and he is hoping he and his team-mates can go "full-throttle" for the win on Wednesday

Real Madrid defender Pepe is hoping that his side get a large slice of luck that he believes was absent in their Champions League campaign last year ahead of the upcoming semi-final clash with Borussia Dortmund.

Jose Mourinho's men travel to Germany on Wednesday hoping to secure a first-leg advantage in their pursuit of a 10th European crown.

The Blancos were sent crashing out of Europe's elite competition by Bayern Munich on penalties at this stage of the tournament last season and Pepe is hoping for luck to favour his team this season.

Speaking at an event for the Real Madrid supporters club, Pepe said: "Wednesday's game is incredibly important for us - everybody in the squad is conscious of that.

"We must go into the game at full throttle but not be over-hasty. We should try to remain composed because we have the return leg at home.

"Failure is a very strong word to use should we not win this semi-final. We will be going out to win and hopefully with that extra bit of luck which we didn't have at this stage last year.

"We need to be hopeful of winning the 10th European cup but once we are out on the pitch, we should just focus on playing well.

"You cannot win the Champions League without getting past this stage and if we manage to do that, I won't care who we face in the final."